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‘Morocco has advanced weaponry, so Algeria wants a Chinese defence system’

January 6, 2022 at 12:32 pm

Algerian military members in Oran, Algeria on 16 December 2020 [Mousaab Rouibi/Anadolu Agency]

The MENA Defence website has revealed that the Algerian army has bought a sophisticated Chinese electronic warfare system because Morocco has obtained advanced weapons systems from Turkey and other sources. The Chinese system is capable of blocking enemy communications and detecting radar at a range of hundreds of kilometres.

According to media linked to the Algeria-backed Polisario Front fighting for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco, the Algerian army is now capable of tackling armed drones used by the Moroccan armed forces. The kingdom has around 20 drones, which were bought from Israel and Turkey.

In recent weeks, the Royal Moroccan Army inaugurated the first military base dedicated to air defence that depends on the Chinese system known as FD-2000B. The Defensa website, which specialises in global defence news, said on Saturday that the system is the first to be used by Morocco to confront long-range threats from the air. The system was installed in Sidi Yahya El Gharb, 60 km from the capital Rabat, and is one of four defence systems that Morocco has requested from China since 2017.

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